What A Wonderful Caricature Of Intimacy
by ObessedTWFan
Summary: Sandle. Chapter Four Up.
1. Hell Of A Night

A/N: I actually find it kind of funny that myself and singingstarrynights would do a story about the same thing. I really do recommend downloading the song "Build God, Then We'll Talk" really good song and really makes you think.

I do warn you this is going to get very religious and religious bashing, so if you are bothered by anything to do with church and god, dont read. Cause it does get twisted. You have been warned, thats why the high rating.

* * *

Just off the beaten path, a few miles from town stood a hotel.

The neon vacancy sign often flickered during the night, when you could see it. The TV's gave no than a few channels and even then it depended on the weather and the wind blew just the right way.

The bathroom had seen better days; the tubs had rust stains on the tap and drain, from having not been replaced since Kennedy had been in office decades before. No water pressure was to be had and lucky if the water ran at all.

The rooms smelled like mothballs, and rotting corpses no matter how many air fresheners were placed around the room, the musky smell lingered.

If that didn't bother you the manager would, missing most of his teeth and what were left were rotting, the smell of his breath had you wincing away and standing off to the side of where he was just so you wouldn't smell his breath but the odor that oozed off of him wasn't much better, it could be worse given the day or the shirt he was wearing. His hair, what little he had left of it was limp and greasy, dandruff so bad you couldn't see his scalp and one eye that followed you everywhere. And the other looked right through you sending chills down your spine, making you think that you needed to cross yourselves before you entering.

This didn't bother the two occupants in room's number three and four. Around the corner, not to be disturbed. Or heard if you screamed.

Room number three held a self-acclaimed lawyer, who graduated at the top of his class from Yale. Married by the time he was 25, and partner in the biggest law firm in Vegas by the time he was 30. Now at 45 law bored him, women fascinated especially the one beside him, she would be knocking on his door any moment now, he would be ready. This was a night she wouldn't forget, this would be the night she start her climb up the corporate ladder.

In room four, Vanessa paced back and forth, her rosary clutched in her hands, praying for help on what to do, she wanted the job, just didn't like how she was getting the job, trading sexual favors for a job that paid just above minimum wage, but what other choice did she have, she no money, no skills and fresh out of the orphanage having just turned eighteen the night before. If only Sister Mary Jean could see her now. She crossed herself and kissed her rosary as she placed it back where it had been, mixed in with her undergarments and picked up the flimsy lingerie she had purchased with the hundred dollars she had been given by the church.

Virginal white, at least she could remain pure with this on, without she became what she had only read about, cheap whores who slept their way to the top. Only once, she mentally scolded only this one time and she would her way up to the top floor, no sleeping around. She was raised better than that.

This was a night that she would never forget.

* * *

Sara stood, body pressed against him as her hands held his face so she could kiss him, and he wouldn't move. His hands were running up and down her back, burning her skin and the need for her bra to come off overwhelmed her but she fought back. 

He backed off needing much needed air, the dimness of room filled with candles just made out her silhouette and a very lovely silhouette it was, and for the moment all his. She moaned into his ear as he bit her earlobe and tilted her head back, his hands expertly undoing the clasps of her bra from behind. He liked the black lace very much, but it needed to go. And it too found its way to the floor with both their shirts. He knew her red jeans, the one he loved when she wore it cause they were too tight to wear regular panties and he knew she wore a thong, just thinking about it made him harder.

Her fingers skimmed the top of his jeans, a small brush of fabric, and his button was undone. Metal against metal and his zipper was undone. Not fair at all. He would only be glad in very tight boxers when she would still be dressed from the waist down. No not fair in deed.

Kissing her lips, making sure she was distracted, his hand found there way lower to the button and fly of her jeans, but he didn't pull them off. His hand went lower in between her legs stroking her through the layers of fabric, the moan that was soft before changed and became higher and longer against his lips. She caught on to what he was doing and her hand slipped below the waistband of his ever-snug boxers and stroked him, all of him.

His groan at the sudden touch encouraged her as she moved faster. He had to calm down or he would blow his chance of making her come first. Like in his dreams.

In his dreams the phone didn't ring interrupting what they were doing. In his dreams he would have ignored the phone if it had. But this wasn't his dreams and the phone did ring and she answered it, and off they were going to a job that never-ended as long as people lived and breathed.

* * *

Detective Jim Brass stood at the doorway of room number four, watching as David checked for signs of how long the occupant had been dead. This never got easier; he would worry when it did. 

Gil Grissom squatted at room three's door, after something of a peculiar colour caught his eye. A purple thread stuck in on the side of the door, to the common eye, anyone could have missed but his years in the trade told him to look closer and deeper into everything, including people.

Tonight was a busy night, even so for Vegas, all his night shiftemployees were at scenes and the two off had been called in, he would have to leave soon, knowing that it was just the first hour into the shift and as the thought crossed his mind, his pager beeped, securing the fiber he studied the pager, another scene, another body. This was going to be one hell of a night.


	2. Rosary Beads

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed, meant a lot. Chapters a tad long for me anyways, but had to be stopped here if not it would keep going on and on. Thanks again.

* * *

The ride over was silent; Sara figured he was sulking because he was close to getting laid. And their boss had interrupted that, just like he had been doing indirectly for the last week and a half.

"It's not my fault" she told him, the radio wasn't on and that was a first.

He watched out the window as the buildings became fewer and farther between, they were almost of Vegas, when in the middle of the desert a hotel sat, the neon sign flickering.

The crime scene tape flittered through the wind, that came out of nowhere, the sirens flashing emitting nothing but red, white and blue, even the officers who usually cracked jokes to keep themselves from remembering there was a body a few feet away remained silent.

This case was going to be different.

You could feel it in your bones

"You two are going to have to cover this case, I got another 419 back near the Sands" Grissom handed Sara the brief notes he had started, and briefed her on what little information he knew about the situation.

* * *

Something drew Greg towards the room, the coroners van parked as close as protocol would allow, without tampering with evidence. Tire treads, he searched the ground, there were none. This doesn't however rule out that someone could have parked a little ways down, and walked, too many shoeprints to rule anything out.

He rounded the corner to room three, paying close attention to ground, hoping that the killer left some sort of evidence. No such luck, the door hadn't been pried open either, the killer had knocked, or the victim left the door unlocked, the question he didn't know was how do you get into the room if the occupant knew that he and the person in the next room were the only ones there?

"David did you use gloves to open the door?" Greg saw the coroner's assistant out of the corner of his eye.

"The manager opened it for me" he just nodded, so much for getting prints, they'd been over lapped and who knew if the killer had worn gloves like he was doing so now. But he had to at least try, if not the manager would get tried for murder, might be a better place for him then here. Any place would be better than here.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, everything was in it's right place, a little eerie considering unless you were OCD, the place was spotless, a little _too_ spotless. And he had a hunch that he would find nothing.

The position of the body was a little odd, almost like when a vampire slept, arms crossed, feet pointed towards the ceiling, the clothes not wrinkled. His hair had even been combed straight back.

"The vic is Art Ringwood, 45, an Associate in Stevenson and Associates. Checked in about three hours ago, with a female, two rooms side by side, queen beds in both, the vic in the other room is Vanessa, no last name" Greg looked up from his position of kneeling beside the vic, snapping pictures at the unusualness of the cleanliness of the body, a weird thing considering his throat had been slashed. No blood on the pillows and comforters below. That just didn't happen.

"Got a question for you how does one get their throat slit and have no blood anywhere?" Greg asked as Sara started on the other side of the room.

"You weren't killed on the bed"

"Bathroom?" Greg asked and could feel that Sara was following him with Luminol in hand, spraying the sink, and the bath tub both positive for blood.

"So if he was killed in the bathtub, how do you get a man of his nature in here? You have to be at least two hundred pounds to carry that guy and more if he was kicking and screaming"

"He may have been drugged" Sara offered, she walked out of the room as Greg dusted for prints on the taps. Nothing. Not surprising.

"He'd be dead weight if he was drugged" Greg offered

"So that rules out female" Sara voicing the obvious

"If you want, I can help you in here, then move onto the other room"

"I think I can handle it if you wanna go search the grounds" Greg told her, and for a second he saw disappointment but it was only there for a second and he didnt dwell on it.

"You sure?"

"Yep" he now bagged the suitcase and contents.

"Okay" Sara stood there for a few seconds and turned and left leaving him alone with the dead guy.

* * *

With the body being removed, he found their leading piece of evidence, a wooden bead, a dark blue in colour. Was this a clue? It could mean everything it could mean nothing.

Dusting for prints on the two glasses, which still held liquor the two glasses identical only the one closet to the bed had lipstick on it. A pale pink. No biggie it only proved that the girl in the next room was in here.

Making his way to the next room, he once again searched the grounds, still finding nothing, he walked in, this room smelled stronger of death than the last, the woman positioned the same way, only she had a rosary in her hands he tried pulling the rosary out of her hands but to no avail, so it was true, the death grip really did avail, her luggage torn through and laid on the floor in a half hazard way. No drinks, glasses or even evidence of food were to been seen. He snapped a few pictures of the body, and noticed something. The vic was wearing red lipstick, not a pale pink. Who the hell was the other person? And he got his questioned answered why this room smelled more like death than the last, Whore had been written across the back of the bed wall in blood. Can you say hate crime?

The bathroom and sink were positive for blood and he swabbed them, just to be sure that it was infact victim number two's blood, because well stranger things had happened.

"I'm all finished outside, what do you want me to do?"

"You can start taking the evidence out to the car, almost finished in here" he called from the bathroom.

"Okay do you have any-"what ever she going to finish saying was ending in a shriek

"Sara you okay?" he quickly stepped out of bathroom to find, Sara picking up a cockroach, a huge cockroach.

"This little guy scared me" she held the little creature firmly as the little bug's arms and antennae moved frantically, looking closer she saw something that shouldn't be there.

"Greg hand me a swab" he thrusted one in her face, a little too quickly for him to be in the bathroom.

"The probably of that being one of the victims blood is very narrow, theirs hundreds, possibly thousands of these guys in these walls"

"What over evidence do we have?" Sara questioned

"Good point" he now handed her a little container to place the filthy cockroach inside.

* * *

On the autopsy room, or so he hoped that this visit wouldn't be a waste of time hoping that they would get something they could use.

"Hey Super Dave" Greg casually said as he walked closer to the examining table, and noticed the blush on David's face, could it be that after all this time Dave still had just a small admiration for a one Miss Sara Sidle? That's not why he was here.

"Just finished your bodies"

"That was quick" Greg replied with a new found appreciation for the man

"Just because it's the crime lab's busiest night doesn't mean it's ours, you two were the first of the night" he said with a sense of pride

"Okay" Sara answered with a just a hint that she really understood, the situation could be in reverse, people could die of natural causes no need for it to be investigated, back to case. David moved to the woman and took out the case notes.

"Nothing too unusual, since she had been dead so little I took fingerprinted the areas where it takes the longest to dissolve, came up nothing, also did a rape kit, the hymen was ruptured but that's common for the first time, no tearing at the five, six or seven o'clock positions to suggest rape, it looks like the sex was consensual" David flicked a few pages before continuing on

"Took her prints and anything else useful, tox reports for both are still pending"

"The guy same thing, cleaned with my guess is would be antibacterial soap"

"Oh found this clutched in victim number two's hands"

David held up the rosary beads, the cross at the bottom twirling back and forth.

Greg donned a pair of gloves and took the beads from him

"How the hell did you get this out of her hands?"

"A magician never reveals his magic tricks" David joked

"These beads look like the one I found on the guy vic"

"There any beads missing on this rosary?"

"No" Greg declared after a brief examination of the set "Doesn't even look like theirs blood on it, but there is a marking, I need a microscope to be sure" Greg walked out staring at the tiny marking on the rosary, they may have a lead.

* * *

"You walked out of there pretty suddenly" Sara told him half an hour later as she came in, putting on a fresh pair of gloves.

"The rosary beads are from a church"

"I would suspect they would be" stated matter of factly.

"This church stamped it, see that little RCC in the corner of the cross?" Sara had to peer way down low to see it, so much so that if he looked to his left, he could see two things, her breasts, and her mouth was really close to his but he remained focused on his task, it was him after all who had put limitations on the PDA at work.

"Ya"

"If we do a search on all the RCC churches, which I doubt they are many we can find out who's this is"

"Or we search her stuff"

"I've already been through it, there's nothing there"

"Are you sure? We haven't been back that long"

"First thing I did when I came up here, searched every pocket, there's nothing"

"Suit case too?"

"I may be new, but I didn't miss anything. Of course I checked the suitcase" that however didn't stop Sara from searching the contents again.

"Did you just not hear what I said?" Greg snapped

"I had a similar case back in foster care, I always hid stuff in this one special zipper part, whenever my stuff got searched they never found the compartment aha" she opened the zipper and pulled out a small piece of paper and a card

"Looks like a birth certificate and social insurance number"

"Let's run it see what we got"

"Are you sure you checked everything?"

"Sara the woman had one pair of pants, and two skirts, and no sweaters that had pockets, yes it may seem like I didn't but I did, I checked them"

"Okay"


	3. Untouched Sofa

A/N: After almost four months of writers block on this story, I 've reached the point where I can get moving again, and more quicker than I thought. So here it is.

damnrulerstillwontworkforme

6:32 am

4 hours and counting.

That's how long the computer had been searched for churches and the last known address of the deceased Vanessa Sharp combined. That's how long since he had a break, and that's how long he hadn't spoken to Sara. More so to do with where the case was going, but they had been in the same room for the last half an hour and not a word was spoken. The tension in the room was starting to strangle him, and he had no idea what caused this in the first place.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" he finally asked, determined to put the wedge that had been driven between them back on the tree where it had come from.

"Sure"

6:46am

"Wanna run the case over again to see if we're missing anything?" Sara asked reaching into a bag of cheesies and slid closer to Greg, whose hand unconsciously slid to her leg, resting comfortably.

"There's not much to go over but sure" with his free hand he flipped the case file open

"Vanessa Sharp, just turned 18, seems she was maybe in an orphanage or something before finding her. Art Ringwood, lawyer, married has two kids, a son and daughter, son attending Yale, daughter Harvard"

"Those don't come cheap"

"Both were placed in a praying position, laying down, throats cut right to left suggesting the person was left handed, the bead we found doesn't belong to the one Vanessa had, and RCC stands for…. Royal Catholic Church and the roach you ran into came back unknown" the printer had beeped out a result seconds before they had left the room, it wasn't more than a few city blocks from where those sat now.

"We could go to the church, or visit the wife it is nearing seven in the morning, they have to be up by now"

"Not all people are like us"

"Should we go together or split up?" she asked ignoring his reply

"I'll take the wife, church's creep me out" he shivered and stood

"Now who gets Brass and who gets Vartan?"

"I want Brass, I think Vartan has a crush on me"

"Alrighty" he closed the case file and popped a final cheesie into mouth before walking out the door.

7:35am

"Mrs. Ringwood, this may not be the best time but I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions"

"Yes, yes of course do come in, would you two like anything to drink?"

"No thank you" Vartan answered, Greg shook his head

"I guess we could take this into the parlor" the woman had a parlous?

"Ma'am, what time did your husband leave last night?" Vartan seated himself beside the young CSI on a couch that had looked like it never been touched.

"He never came home, phoned me from the car said he was helping some girl out, get a hotel room, she was down on her luck, something had happened at the firm and she didn't have a job. That was Art though, always helping those in need"

"And what time was the phone call?"

"I would have to say shortly before 6:30, we always eat at 6:30, and it was shortly before that"

"Did your husband specify what the uproar at the office had been?" Greg asked

"Oh yes, he always does, never a secret between us" Greg found that very hard to believe, he had after all been caught with another woman not ten feet away.

"The young woman had come looking for the secretary job, that a fellow associate had been looking for, he knew her and refused to give her the job, even called security on her"

"Your husband wouldn't have mentioned the name of the young woman or lawyer who threw her out would he or how she was known?" Vartan asked this time

"No I'm afraid he didn't" she paused, looking down and suddenly back up, like a drone "but he didn't have to for the fellow lawyer, it was Bill, Bill Luckinbill, I play tennis with his wife every Tuesday and Thursday" Vartan was busy writing down the name when Greg asked the next question

"This may be a little personal but is your husband a religious man?"

"He went the odd time, to make it look good, but other than that no, why do you ask?"

"Just trying to see if the two victims are connected" Vartan supplied there was a bit of truth to that. It could help lead them to the killer.

"There was another person?"

"You didn't know?"

"No I didn't, don't tell me it was that poor girl he was helping" she seemed just a bit too over dramatic.

"I'm afraid it was ma'am" the woman looked heart broken but quickly covered, making Greg wonder if he ever saw it in the first place.

Meanwhile across town at the exactly same time 

Sara understood why Greg didn't like churches, they were big, loud and creepy and the walls seemed to close in on her. If only the walls could talk. Stepping into the church transformed her back in time, to when tall walls, and arches were the in thing for churches. Unless you were there from the start, you really had no idea what had transpired in the church, who was buried beneath the floorboards, how many illegal deals went on behind the father's back. It was just mind-boggling.

"You look a little lost" a sister, dressed to the nines in her outfit of black and white

"Maybe you can help me, I'm Sara Sidle from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, has this woman ever been here?" she pulled out the only picture they had of Vanessa Sharp, her autopsy photo. The colour drained from the older woman's face, crossing herself and saying something Sara couldn't quite make out.

"Sit down I may?" the older woman asked apolitically, Sara couldn't help but nod, the woman looked as pale as a ghost.

"Secrets of many, do I keep"

"Sister we're on the same side, all I want is make the guilty pay for his sins"

"Enough punishment is guilt yes?"

"Unless the city sees retribution for crimes, it's not considered justice"

"Consider justice as?"

"It's not about what I think, its what the evidence says"

"As do I" she held her rosary beads in her hand, the cross only visible in her clenched hands.

"If you could just tell me anything you know about Vanessa"

"Maria was a good girl" Sara opened her mouth to correct her but the elderly woman continued "Church every Wednesday and Sunday, even a teacher when she was old enough. It was a shock when she confided in me that she was pregnant, out of wedlock, a thing that is frowned upon in my line of duty to the Saviour. It had been going on for some time, her step father would come in late at night, while the mother was a work and well.." Sara nodded understanding, the step father had molested her "the church, is against abortion, and it was decided that she would give it up for adoption when the time came, she wasn't ready to be a mother, and the baby deserved a chance, much more than she give it, her clothes got bigger as the time progressed naturally. I helped in every way I could, when the time came she found out she was having twins she was saddened not overjoyed and she got bigger than normal, her mother found out accused her of spreading her legs, and kicked her out. She had no where to go, and I let her stay in the churches basement until it was time. The babies would be raised in the church's orphanage until a family came along wanting both, one of them got adopted much to my dismay, and it wasn't Vanessa" the door closing echoed through the walls, causing Sara to glance in the direction of the disturbance. From the looks of it, the couple that came in were in some need of some counseling. "We did the best we could, and when she turned eighteen we told her about her sister, and who her parents were. Their poor mother didn't make it out of child birth, after everything she had done, she got rewarded with the best possible thing, she got to make her maker. It wasn't much but I gave her a hundred dollars to help her until she found a job, had something set up at a local law firm if I do remember it correctly"

"Did she mention any names from the law firm?" Sara uncrossed one leg, and crossed it over the other.

"No"

"Who were her parents?"

"Maria Gracey, and Theodore Steadman"

"You run the orphanage?"

"The past twenty years yes, along with many other duties" she older woman smiled, wrinkles etched her face. A rare thing to see in Vegas, a woman aging gracefully.

"You revealed she was a twin, could I have her name?"

"I'm pretty sure it's Teresa Goldpine, nice family that adopted her"

"I think that's it, if I have anymore questions"

"You know where to find me" the sister stood smiled and walked over to the couple who were had come in moments before.

Waiting until she was outside to make her phone call, she dialed a number that had becoming more and more familiar in the past few months.

"Sanders"

"It's me, not to much to report except that our vic was a twin, and she had an appointment set up for a local law firm"

"The wife claimed the husband phoned her from his car phone about six-thirty saying he was helping out some woman who was down on her luck, and told her about a an argument that took place between our female vic, and the lawyer, security was even called"

"We need to find out just exactly why they fought"


	4. Of Consenting Age

A/N: Been a long time in the works. But decided to pick this story back up...mainly due to the kinda sequel I want to write to this. I just hoped I havent lost all the reviewers with this one. One or two more chapters more.

* * *

"Theodore Steadman, does not exist after 1990, filled out his taxes and then the trail went cold. The same time Bill Luckinbill filed for a new social insurance number due to fraud"

"So you're saying that it's very possible, Steadman could be Luckinbill?" Greg asked over the phone, paying attention to the traffic before him.

"That's exactly what I'm saying"

"Alright thanks" he flipped the phone closed and took a minute for his mind to wrap around the new info.

They just got motive.

* * *

Sara sat, file in front of her, hands clasped in front of her staring intently at the suspect before. Greg on the other hand had decided to take a seat on the table in the far corner crossing his arms, good cop, bad cop. 

"Mr. Luckinbill or Mr. Steadman which do you prefer to be called?"

"How did-?" Luckinbill stopped, knowing full well that they almost caught him.

"We find out that you created a new identity?" Sara asked him, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes, she knew he had done it.

"Well Theodore Steadman disappears around the same time Bill Luckinbill comes into the picture, not rocket science, what we don't know is why"

"I don't have to tell you anything" he glanced from the bitch sitting in front of him to the bastard coming towards him.

"You will, if you don't want to go down for murder" Sara simply stated

"Murder? Because I'm Vanessa's father, ya that'll stick"

"You were the last one to see her alive, beside the other victim Ringwood"

"That doesn't mean I was the one to kill her, my, my detectives since when did you start grasping at straws? I would hate to think the taxpayers are paying you to know nothing and make guesses"

"That's where you are wrong Mr. Luckinbill, you had motive…" Sara trailed off allowing Greg to pick up where she left off"

"Your daughter you didn't know you had came in begging for a job, and threatened to tell your wife and the rest of Vegas of your deeds if you didn't give her one, you told her no, called sercuity to make it legit, but you saw Ringwood, making the moves and you got jealous, waiting for a few hours and tailed Ringwood when he left. He lead you to Vanessa and you decided to kill two birds with one stone, even if she was the daughter you never knew you had, you still felt protective of her"

"That's a load of bull"

"Then what really did happen?"

"It ended when security was called, I never saw her again" sweat glistened on his upper brow and he paused to wipe it away. "Honest call my wife we were at L'Orange from 6 till 7:30"

"I think that's everything thank you Mr. Luckinbill" he nodded and stood doing up his three piece suit that probably cost more than what both him and her paid for rent combined and proceeded out the door"

"Why'd you let him leave?"

"Something's not right, the timeline is off"

"What timeline?"

"The sister at the church said that Maria's stepfather was molesting her, had been for years, what doesn't make sense is that both Teresa, Vanessa, and Luckinbill other two kids are all 18"

"Could he have been cheating on the vic's mother?"

"One way to find out, let's go meet Mrs. Luckinbill"

--

"I'm not supposed to be talking to you" Mrs. Luckinbill held the door tightly, open enough to see her and the wall behind her, that was it.

"We just have a one simple question, and then we will be out of your hair" _for now, _Greg neglected to add, he'd lost the coin toss in the car, and he had to do the talking, lay it on thick , make her like you. That he had no problem with, he had gotten to see Sara without any clothes on and that was a mountain in itself.

"What is the question" Mrs. Luckinbill released a sigh of boredom and shifted against the door.

"Did you and Mr. Luckinbill conceive before or after you two were married?"

"I think that's a little personal" she went to shut the door, but Greg's foot in the door stopped her

"I'm sorry but we are just trying to create a timeline" Greg emphasized and did a little puppy eye,

"Of what?"

"Just to make a few things clearer" Sara piped in

"We had slept together before, I found out I was pregnant and we were married not even a month later, have a nice day" she shut the door.

"How much you want a bet he was still married when his current Mrs got knocked up?" Sara asked walking back to the Tahoe.

"Bigamy?" Greg looked at her like a crazy person

"Technically its not, Theordore Steadman is dead to everyone, where Bill Luckinbill isn't"

"But he's the same guy"

"To the public yes, but he is one man and doesn't matter how many names he has, its still bigamy"

"I'm glad I'm a one girl man" Greg said before he got into the drivers side.

"I am too" she squeezed his hand and looked off into the distance.


End file.
